Thursday, May 22, 2014

Statement from Meyer on child safety special session

Statement
from Meyer on child safety special session

STATE
CAPITOL, PHOENIX – House Minority Whip Eric Meyer, D-Paradise Valley
(District 28), released this statement after Gov. Jan Brewer called the
Legislature into a special session focused on child safety.

“Today
the governor called the Legislature back into session with the expectation that
we correct the issues plaguing our child safety agency. When we convene on May
27, House Democrats will ensure we establish an agency equipped to help
Arizona’s most vulnerable children.

“For
too long, Child Protective Services has had to make do with emergency funding
after years of budget cuts to preventative and support services. This set the
agency up for failure. With fewer resources going to prevention and support,
more families fell into crisis and the child-safety caseload in the state began
increasing at a rate that the agency could not handle.

“These
next few days will be crucial to changing the course of child safety in
Arizona. House Democrats are committed to working in a bipartisan manner to
create a new agency that will protect children while requiring accountability
and transparency. This effort has already begun. A workgroup including Rep.
Debbie McCune Davis, D-Phoenix (District 30), has been meeting regularly to
develop the infrastructure for the new agency. Rep. McCune Davis has done a commendable
job of voicing the concerns of our communities and of stakeholders during this
process.

“Moving
forward, we must prioritize resources for caseworkers and it is critical that
we fund preventative and support services. We should also increase accountability
and transparency measures. By doing this, we can address the nearly 15,000-case
backlog the state still has. Additionally, we can begin to help children before
they become victims of abuse or neglect, which will eventually reduce the
caseload. This work will continue beyond the special session. It took years for
the situation to develop and the reforms will not happen overnight. House
Democrats will remain vigilant in their effort to protect Arizona’s children.”